what I wish someone told me going into my freshman year of college
You and your roommate might not get along.
Just because you woke up early every day in high school doesn’t mean you will be able to in college.
Conversely, you might just realize you are a morning person in college.
You should learn to examine your personal biases. Ask yourself why you have a certain opinion.
There are plenty of students who have taken 17, 18, 19 hour course loads and they have been successful; however, it may not be financially feasible.
Searching for scholarships doesn’t stop when you get to college. Keep looking for them and applying for them. Create a separate email account to receive and correspond to scholarship emails.
Don’t put off visiting your academic advisor. Mine absolutely saved me when I was going through the lowest point in my life.
Let your mom/dad/parental guardian (if applicable) make your bed on move-in day.
Get involved, but only if you want to. Student organizations in college are much more time-consuming, so be certain that it is something you really want to do.
Have fun. You don’t have to go out every single weekend. But go get coffee or study with a friend. Have some sort of interaction with others.
Getting a job really eased my financial burdens and I made friends, and established references. Having money just feels good.
Wash your face. Keep make up wipes close to your bed for nights when you are just too tired to go through an elaborate skin care routine.
Communal showers suck, but we all have to endure them. I promise you will get used to it. But you gotta bathe, friend.
Be honest with your support system. Many times, those closest to us would help us in a heartbeat, but they never knew we needed help in the first place.
Utilize services your tuition covers. These include, but are not limited to, tutoring, legal services, medical services, etc.
Sit in the front row. Just do it. Seriously. You will be less inclined to get on your phone/not pay attention to lecture/discussion material if the material is two feet away from you. You can also see better on those days when you forget glasses, or run out of contacts.
Your MWF life does not know your T/TR life. You can totally hit those clothes with some febreeze and wear them on heavy rotation.
Speaking of clothes, everyone washes clothes on Sundays. It’s a fact.
You really don’t need to bring all of your clothes, expensive jewelry, trophies from that time you did soccer in 2nd grade, etc. to your dorm. Just enough clothes to fit in your drawers/closet for all seasons, and a couple sentimental items to remind you of home.
Save the boxes you use to move into your dorm/apartment. You will need them come move out.
Live and die by the syllabi, but know that professors will change things up randomly. They will also announce things in class that are not on the syllabus at random.
Do invest in some good plates and Tupperware.
Drink water.
The freshman 15 is real and it is coming for you. But it’s okay. You’re still awesome.
Parking in college is universally limited and unforgiving. Be mindful of this.
Many retailers will have sales on microwaves and mini fridges when fall comes around. Invest in them.
Storage containers are a must.
Respect quiet hours.
If you will be living on campus, and your campus is dry - RESPECT THAT. Seriously, it’s such a dumb mistake to make. I have friends who started out on probation because they decided to drink in their dorms their freshman year.
Get a power strip. Or three.
There’s no dress code in college. So you can totally wear that crop top. But be mindful that those surrounding you are potential professional connections. A lot of college is networking.
But, in all honesty, no one really cares what you are wearing.
You are an adult now, so setting boundaries is necessary.
Don’t stay in that toxic relationship.
Keep in touch with your friends/family from back home.
Do ask your professors questions in office hours, during class (if able to), or via email.
Use protection.
Stand up for yourself, what you believe in, and others.
Get the number of at least one person in each class during syllabus week.
Expect to stay the entire 2-4 hours of your lab.
Be respectful of your roommate’s space.
Be respectful of other’s differing opinions in Blackboard discussions.
Be a point whore. Do the extra credit. Do it.
Remember that college is a new beginning.
Realize that grades do not define your intelligence.
Realize that sometimes we fail classes, but it does not mean that we are not “smart enough.”
Know that college is not for everyone.
It’s okay to take a couple semesters off to better yourself. I did, and I am so thankful that I made that decision.
Buy your textbooks and access codes and lab manuals as early as you can.
Use a planner!!!!!!
Mental health is just as important as physical health.
Remember that college is not supposed to bethe best years of your life. College is meant to set you up for the best years of your life.
i know, i know, i’m a little bit early. it’s all good, i have anxiety, i plan ahead constantly. i figured i’d share some of my plans to prepare myself for heading back to school.
1. fix your sleep schedule
for school i wake up at 6:30, in the summer i wake up at 12. and recently i decided to fuck that up even more by pulling an all-nighter and just, in general, screwing up my sleep schedule. i’ll need about a month to fix all this damage, but in general, you should start reacquainting yourself with your school schedule about two weeks before you have to head back.
2. figure out your note keeping system
i’m switching things up this year, and i won’t be using the binder system i’ve had all throughout high school. it’s simply to heavy for my walk to and from school. instead, i’ll be using a filing folder, and keeping loose leaf paper, as well as the week’s lessons in there, and once the week is over, i’ll transfer my notes to the binder system at home, which should limit the weight i carry. also, this’ll force me to have better organization, and hopefully make weekly review easier. just as a rule of thumb, refreshing your note keeping system is something you should do annually, at the start of a new year or even before a new semester; you know what’s been working and what hasn’t been.
3. gather breakfast ideas
i have about ten minutes scheduled in my morning routine during the school year for breakfast. and about five of those minutes are spent figuring out what to eat. i want to gather simple breakfast ideas that i can test out now, so i don’t waste time deciding what to eat. this just, in general, makes mornings less of a hassle and can help make sure you’re getting a good start to the day.
4. take stock of your supplies
i need a lunchbag and highlighters, my previous ones are no longer able to function, so i need to replace them. i don’t, however, need new pencils, i have plenty. doing an inventory check can really help prevent buying duplicates of something you thought you didn’t have.
5. create achievable goals
this year is my final year of high school, and then i’m off to university, most of my goals centre around applications and just graduating. but there are other things i know i need to do. embracing study habits for one. i’m hoping to do so by staying in the library after school instead of walking home right away because i know i can’t get work done as effectively at home. i’ll also be doing a review for exams all throughout the year, instead of the day before, by creating flashcards and mindmaps for each days lesson. set a general goal, then add the steps you’ll need to take to achieve it.
6. check your courses
i’m dropping out of physics because i don’t need to be taking it and it will give me a spare instead of a full course load. i need to talk to my guidance counsellor before school starts because of it. as well, i like to make sure i’m in the correct classes and that my schedule is as balanced as possible. some schools may not allow this for regular students, mine does. make sure you’re taking what you need to take and what will allow you to succeed.
7. put dates in your planner
my school offers a tentative list of events going on through the year, with set exam and break times. i like to keep track of these, and setting them in my planner makes it easier to see how my year will play out. if your school doesn’t offer this, check out past years scheduling so that you have a general feel for how your year will go.
these are just some of the things i’m doing to ensure this year goes smoothly for me. let me know what y’all are doing too!
To all my freshman babies who are panicking right now about how much your college textbooks cost: Yeah, you’re right, that’s some highway robbery. No, you don’t have to lie down and take it. You have options. Follow my advice and fly on your own debt free wings.
1. Forgoe the bookstore entirely. Sometimes you can get a good deal on something, usually a rental, but it’s usually going to be considerably more expensive to go through official channels. Outsmart them, babies.
2. Does your syllabus call for edition eight? Get edition seven. Old editions are considered worthless in the buyback trades, so they sell for dirt cheap, no matter how new they are. It’s a gamble, sure; there might be something in edition eight you desperately need, but that never happened to me. However, I’ve only ever pulled this stunt for literature/mass comm/religious studies books, so I don’t know it would work in the sciences.
3. Thriftbooks.com, especially for nonfiction and fiction. Books are usually four or five dollars unless they’re really new, and shipping is 99 cents unless you buy over 10$ in books, in which case shipping is free.
4. Bigwords.com. It will scan every textbook seller on the internet for the lowest price available, and will do the same to find the highest price when you try to sell your books back at the end of term. Timesaver, lifesaver.
5. In all probability, your library offers a service called interlibrary loan which is included in your tuition. This means if your library doesn’t carry a book you can order it for free from any library nationwide in your library’s network and it will be shipped to you in a number of days. Ask a librarian to show you how to search for materials at your library as well as though interlibrary loan; you’ll need to master this skill soon anyway. If you get lucky you can just have your required reading shipped to you a week before you need to start reading, then renew vigorously until you no longer need to item. I’m saving over 100$ on a History of Islam class this way.
You professors might side-eye you for bringing an old edition or a library copy, but you just smile right back honey, because you can pay your rent and go clubbing this month. You came here to win. So go forth and slay.
Can I add to this? 6. Find PDFs of your book to store on your computer. I managed to find an up-to-date edition of my textbook for sociology by doing this, and other books for other classes. It may be risky to have to look high and low for them, but it’s a godsend trust me
7. A fair bit of the time, your lectures are directly out of the textbook. There have been classes where I’ve bought the book, only to realize the professor basically vomited the chapter into a lecture. Sometimes, you can just get away with taking really good notes.
Hey guys, so I’m nearing the end of my senior year, and it’s been great so far! I accomplished my academic tasks efficiently and didn’t burn myself out, and I think the main contributor to my success as a student is my organization system. This system has been refined throughout my high school years, but I think now I’ve finally found the most effective methods.
Please remember that this isn’t the only organization system you can adopt; this is just the one that works the best for me, and I hope that by sharing it with you, you’ll gain a new perspective on how to stay organized as a high school student.
The first thing I wanna talk about is my notebook system, which I briefly mentioned in my Guide to Note-Taking.
My notebook system comprises three types of notebooks: the Everything Notebook, the subject notebook, and the revision notebook.
The Everything Notebook
The first stage is in-class notes. I only bring one notebook to school every day. I call it my Everything Notebook, and this is where I write down all of the notes I take in class. This way, I don’t have to lug around six notebooks where I’m only going to use a few pages in each of them that day.
Subject Notebooks
At the end of the day, I would revise my notes and compare them to the syllabus so I know where we are in the learning process. I would then transfer my class notes from my Everything Notebook to my different subject notebooks. This is stage two. I also start to jazz up my notes because I use the notes in my subject notebooks to study for tests.
In addition to my class notes, I include material from my teachers’ notes that they might not have elaborated on, as well as points in the syllabus (I’m currently taking A2) that were only glazed over briefly, or not at all, in some cases. (Note: this does not mean they completely skip a chapter or topic; it’s more like they missed a few bullet points that should be in my notes but aren’t. An example would be if we’re learning about phenol reactions and the teacher forgot to mention the use of FeCl3 as a test for phenol.)
Revision Notebooks
Stage three comes a little later, when exam week is just around the corner. Essentially, I rewrite and improve my notes from my five different subject notebooks into a single revision notebook or binder. (Recently, I’ve opted for a revision notebook because they’re lighter and easier to carry around.)
Because my teachers don’t always teach in the order of the syllabus, the first thing I do is organize my notes according to the syllabus. I would then fill in any other missing gaps in the material that hadn’t been filled in stage two.
When compiling material for my revision notebook, I use as many sources as possible: my own notes, my teachers’ notes, youtube videos, online sites, and my favorite, the mark scheme! I add in some answers from past papers (explanations only, so no calculations) mainly to secure marks. It’s safer to memorize definitions straight from the mark scheme than from the textbook or from handouts. I also do this to ease my memorization, especially for topics that require lengthy explanations. It’s a lot easier to remember the 6 points I need to explain the principles of NMRI than to remember everything in the four-page handout my teacher gave me.
Folders and binders are essential to organizing your papers. Some people keep a single accordion folder for all their papers, but for me it’s just too heavy to carry around all the time. The same goes for subject folders that are brought to school every day.
Instead, my binder/folder system comprises my Everything Folder and my subject binders.
The Everything Folder
The folder I carry with me to school every day is this A4 folder I got from Tokyu Hands. It has 5 pockets, one for each day of the week, so all the papers I receive on Monday will go behind the first divider, and so on.
Some people also keep blank papers in their folders; I don’t because my school has its own lined paper and graphing pads that I keep under my desk that I use if a teacher asks us to do an assignment on those papers. If I do work at home, I prefer to just use a plain A4 paper or a legal pad.
Subject Binders
At the end of the week, I’ll sort my papers into my subject binders. Sometimes I’ll keep some papers in the folder if I think I’ll be needing it the next week. This usually only applies to worksheets because all my teachers’ notes are available on Google Classroom, so I can access them even if I don’t physically have them.
Each of these binders have sections inside them:
Physics: 1 for handouts, notes, and tests, 1 for Paper 4 (Theory), 1 for Paper 5 (Practical Planning). I included extra tabs to mark the different topics in the handouts section.
Chemistry: same as Physics.
Economics: 1 for Paper 3 (MCQ), 1 for Paper 4 (Case Study and Essay). A lot of my Economics material is online, though.
English: 1 for Paper 3 (Text and Discourse analysis), and 2 for Paper 4 (Language Topics, which includes 1 for Child Language Acquisition, 1 for World Englishes). Past papers, handouts, and notes all go under their respective topics.
Mathematics: I just keep everything together because I never revise math and just constantly do past papers.
This makes it easier for me to revise each subject because I can just take one binder with me instead of a messy folder with everything just shoved in there.
I keep a magazine file for each of my A-Level subjects (English and Mathematics are combined). All my textbooks, revision guides, and subject notebooks are kept here, so if I need to revise one subject, that’s the magazine file I’ll take out.
These magazine files prevent any small things (like my book of flashcards) from being shoved to the back of my bookshelf, or materials from different subjects from getting mixed up.
In my senior year, I mostly plan using this app called Edo Agenda. It syncs across all my devices for free and has all the features I need: a to do list to organize tasks, monthly and weekly calendars to organize events, a journal to organize notes and memos.
I used to bullet journal regularly, but it takes too much time during weekdays, so now I just bullet journal for the therapeutic effects it gives me, and I use an app for organizing tasks and events. Sometimes at the end of each week, I’ll transfer my tasks to my bullet journal and then decorate the page, but again, this is just for its therapy.
Organizing your school supplies is just as important as organizing your papers and notes. With a more organized backpack and pencil case, you won’t waste time looking for your things at the bottom of an abyss.
Pencil Case
I don’t find it necessary to bring so much stationery to school unless I plan on making notes at school (usually during revision week).
Backpack
Because we’re already in the revision term, I don’t really carry a lot of things in my everyday backpack, just the following:
Pencil case
Everything Notebook
Everything Folder
Revision notebook
Kindle
Phone
Wallet
Earphones
Calculator
Speaker
Drinking bottle
A pouch with things like a hairbrush, pads, and lip balm
And that’s all for now! I hope this post will help you organize your school life (if you haven’t already) or at least provide some useful insights on some ways to stay organized as a high school student.
if someone does the “fine, you’re right, i’m clearly a terrible person, i’m satan, i’m the worst person alive, i should just die” thing in response to criticism of their harmful behavior, they are trying to manipulate ppl and flip the situation around so that they look like a victim
stop tolerating this in 2k17 tbh. like really and truly, if you or your friend thinks this is okay pls call the hotline on the bottom of the screen and learn how to take responsibility for your bad behavior
redeyestakewxrning
The bad thing is I do this on a regular basis. Not because I want to manipulate people, but because that’s actually how I feel. I’m bad at receiving concrit. I can’t say that everyone who reacts this way feels the same as I do, but…not every case is like that.
have you considered that, regardless of your intentions, reacting in such an exaggerated way would make it very difficult for anyone to criticize you or tell you that you’re harming people with your behavior? i’m not interested in searching out people’s motives, i don’t really care why someone does or says manipulative things. being unable or unwilling to simply apologize and not make it about themselves is a solid indicator that a person is not interested in being held accountable for their bad behavior, and people, especially the injured parties in question, shouldn’t have to tolerate it.
take responsibility for your bad behavior 2k17 tbh
When I was in my late teens and early 20s, I kept getting involved with people who would say, “Oh, I’m a bad person” any time I brought up ANYTHING that was the least bit of a disagreement.
Like, “Please don’t leave my X on the floor” would get, “Oh, I’m a horrible person!”
HERE’S WHY THIS IS A HUGELY PROBLEMATIC BEHAVIOR, and if you think I”m calling you out and you think you’re about to shut down, take a breath, remember that this is about learning, and keep reading.
What is important is what happened after. My boyfriend might say, “Oh, I’m just an awful boyfriend” and instead of him acknowledging the BEHAVIOR and working on fixing it, he’d get me trying to buck him up for the next half hour, telling him he was a good person. The behavior that started it all would not change.
Well, things led to things and I went back home to live for a while, and found that the same exact thing was happening… with my mother.
And then I learned about pattern arguments. Pattern arguments are the ones where you keep having the same nonproductive argument over and over again. They don’t all follow this pattern, but this is a really common one.
The trick?
BREAK THE PATTERN
First you have to know what the pattern is. In this case: 1. Grievance 2. Self deprecation 3. Ego stroking
So, with my mother, we started in on one of these, and she said, “I guess I’m just a terrible mother.”
And instead of reassuring her, instead of derailing the issue and letting it go… I said, “When you say that, it makes me wonder how terrible a daughter I could be that you would think you were a bad mother. We have this conversation this way over and over, and the problem that I have always gets pushed aside in favor of trying to make you feel better. When you’re willing to have a real conversation about this, I’m happy to talk to you, but I’m bored with this argument, so I’ll see you later if you want to really talk.” And I left the room.
Now, my mom is a reasonably self-aware person, and does a lot of hard emotional work, and so she got it, very quickly. 10 minutes later she came out and found me, and we had a real conversation about whatever the hell the issue really was, and we have literally NEVER had that particular pattern argument again in 23 years.
Boyfriend came to visit. I was upset about something, he started in on the “I’m just a shitty boyfriend” thing… and my response?
“Yep. You are.”
His jaw dropped. He blinked.
And I said, “Look, that’s what you do. You say shit like that and it means you don’t have to change your behavior, and I’m tired of the pattern we have where I tell you something isn’t working for me, you tell me you’re terrible, and I spend half an hour making you feel better. I’m tired of it and I”m not doing it anymore. If you’re willing to have an actual conversation about this, and not just the same old argument, I’m game. But this thing we do where you talk yourself down and I butter you up? Is boring. And I’m over it.”
We also did not have that argument again. (The relationship finally ended for real a while after, but it ended in a grown-up way, and not with a ridiculous meaningless fight.)
When you knock yourself down, the gut instinct for the people around you is to pick you up. But that means you’re not pulling your weight in the relationship. You’re making them do the work and you’re not actually hearing them.
So that brings us to another point:
How to deal with criticism
Okay, so if you’re not going to knock yourself down when someone says something negative about you, what DO you do? We don’t actually train people to take criticism well. But it is an art and a skill and NECESSARY to finding emotional stability in the face of a critical world.
I see it as a flow chart, but since the flow chart I made for it ended up in a book that I don’t own the copyright to (not a big deal) I’ll write out the decision tree here instead:
1. Someone offers criticism (constructive or not!)
2. Listen and think about it without immediately trying to defend yourself. You can say, “Okay, I need a moment to take that in and think about it because I want to understand it.” Or something else appropriate to the situation. It is okay to ask for time to think in most circumstances. Most people will appreciate that you are thinking about their words instead of immediately getting defensive or counterattacking. Think about whether what they are saying is valid, might be valid or is not valid.
3A. If it is valid, then you have a choice. You can try to fix the behavior or you can acknowledge that it is a valid criticism but decide you aren’t likely to fix it. Start by acknowledging the validity of the criticism, and then say what you’re going to do to fix it, or say that it’s valid but it isn’t something you’re willing (or possibly able) to change, or say that it’s a valid criticism and you’ll need to think about possible solutions. They may have a suggestion. Taking it or not is also a choice.
3B. If you’re not sure it’s valid, but it might be, tell them, “I really need to give this some more thought.” or “Can you tell me more about this? I’m not sure I understand the issue well.” Or “If you can point me at some reading material or search terms, I’d like to study this before I decide what I’m going to do.”
3C. If you know it is not a valid criticism, STOP a moment, and look at WHY they are making it. This is where Active Listening can be very helpful. “I hear you saying that X is a problem. I don’t see it that way right now but I’d like to understand better why you do.” Or if you think they don’t have enough information, “I hear you saying X, but my understanding of the issue is Y. Here’s what I know about it if you’re ready to listen.” If they’re just looking for a fight, tell them you’re not interested in fighting, and disentangle yourself.
4. If the criticism is something you are going to listen to and take action on, tell them what kind of action you’re going to take. If it’s something you’re hearing and thinking about, tell them that. If it’s not something you’re going to do anything about or it’s just wrong, thank them for their input and move on.
Literally never is it going to be helpful to say, “Oh, I’m just a terrible person.” That’s very much like a nonapology-apology in terms of how unhelpful it is to any conversation. It’s kind of worse because it actually expects emotional labor from someone who is already having to bring up something unpleasant with you.
Think about what they say Decide whether you’re going to do something about it Do the thing, or tell them you’re not going to do the thing. Don’t demand emotional labor from other people when you were the one who messed up.
Apologize if appropriate.
This is all predicated on the notion that you’re talking to someone who actually wants to communicate and isn’t just an asshole on the attack.
Because seriously, the whole “I’m a terrible person” thing?
Boring as fuck. Knock that shit off. Maybe you are. Maybe you aren’t. But take responsibility and have a little self-respect and don’t make others pick your emotional dirty towels off the metaphorical bathroom floor.
seriously, if you don’t use it at home you won’t use it at school except for:
shower caddy + shoes (invest in a sturdy caddy)
robe
earplugs/sleep mask if you’re a light sleeper
get a comfy mattress pad!! it doesn’t have to be expensive – mine was $25 from bed bath and beyond
Clorox wipes!!!!!
a sleeping bag + sleeping pad is great to have for guests or last minute camping/road trips
don’t be afraid of random roommate pairings!! it worked out great for me, and even if you don’t end up bffs you can still get along
communicate with your roommates!! set expectations up front – how clean will you keep the room? will you need to call before you have guests? is their food up for grabs? can you share clothes?
pack as light as you can – you can always grab more stuff over break, and chances are you’ll have less storage than you think
related: don’t bring every pair of shoes you own. one pair of each type is good – sandals, dress shoes, workout shoes, etc
keep some snacks on hand – popcorn, granola bars, cereal are all good for snacking + sharing
those ikea rolling carts are great for storage!!
the dollar store is great for finding little bins for wrangling pens, nail polish, hair ties etc
have an extra set of sheets, because it would take an act of congress to get me to actually do laundry and make up my bed in the same day.
bedding: you can get it super cheap while still being nice/durable!! my quilt was from a west elm outlet for around $30, my sheets from tj maxx for $18, and my backup set was $7 from walmart. i used throw pillows and blankets i already had and bam, super comfy bed.
you’ll probably wanna stay away from white comforters, bc your bed’s gonna be the main seating in your room and you/your friends will wear shoes on there/drop a slice of pizza/generally get it really gross
throw pillows!! my friends laughed when i moved in and had a bunch, but guess who was begging to watch movies on my super comfy bed??? they’re not essential, but it’s nice since you’ll be sitting on your bed a lot
be selective about the school supplies you bring bc they get heavy fast
bring a lamp (and not just for your desk.) dorm lighting is seriously depressing (esp if you end up with cinderblock walls) so bring your own!
you’re probably not going to have much time for reading, so don’t bother hauling a huge box of books up the stairs.
have a couple extra cups/mugs on hand for friends, but don’t bring your whole cabinet!! you won’t have much space so you don’t want gross dirty mugs hanging around your desk
sponges > dish rags
bring two of each: plates, bowls, silverware sets, travel mugs.
bring a small hamper!! if it’s too big you’ll run out of clothes before you run out of space
tide pods will make your life so much easier
bring some pictures from home to hang around your desk, but leave some room for new pictures!!
keep some extra command hooks/picture strips on hand after move in
cleaning supplies to keep on hand: broom or small vacuum, clorox wipes, and lysol (for when the flu inevitably goes around your hall). that’s honestly all you’ll use/need.
bring anything you need for your hobbies; guitar, paint, yoga mat, etc
wait a couple days after move in to hang up stuff on the wall; you’ll probably move furniture around for a few days still
honestly, you’ll be moving furniture all year
be respectful of your hall mates!! don’t be loud after 10ish or before 9, and keep the common areas clean!!
You may or may not be aware, but come September I will have moved out of my mum’s house and into my own dorm. I’m super excited but I really have no clue as to what I need to take and what new things I will need to buy. I just wanted to know if anyone had any advice or could link me to a post or video of what to pack? Thank you!
magpiesbrain
absolutely half-assed and not comprehensive list of 1st year uni advice (uk based? i guess?)
- don’t buy your textbooks. not yet. join any uni book selling fb pages, see who sells them used. check whether the library has them on short loan. see whether the lib has an online copy of them. and if none of those options work, then consider requesting a copy from the library, before buying a full price one.
-slippers, so you won’t have to spend the whole day in shoes, but you won’t have to go barefoot on dorm kitchen floors
-for kitchen: check what your dorm provides (they usually have a kettle, toaster, microwave?), and what they allow (eg. they usually frown at electric blankets). my uni’s recycling team has an event every fresher’s week where they hand out used crokery and stuff for free, might be worth a check? otherwise you should survive with a bowl, a pot, cutlery, and a decent kitchen knife
-clotheshangers? some dorms just…. don’t have them
-bedding. you can pre-order them cheap online (eg. unikitout), or take a trip to your local tesco when you arrive. also, have at least 2 sets of sheets, so you can be a bit flexible with laundry
-one big ass bag for laundry. don’t be the person who uses three tesco plastic bags in the laundry room.
-also, if you are self catered, get yourselves some good good tupperwares, so you can store and freeze leftovers (which is a godsend on low energy days)
oh hey folks fun update, i found my passion again? i just had to find my right outlet, get to a place where I have aspirations, dispel apathy and pursue what I love, it’s all good and swell!
I’ve summarized professor
Alexander Arguelles’ video, because I think this is crucial for language learning.
There is no magic trick that will help you become fluent in 1 month, but there are very effective approaches to learning a new language and if you combine them, you will surely become fluent.
If you’re learning a new language, the most important thing you need to consider is
–
what type of language learner are you?
1. If you:
have a more deductive approach, which means that
you’re better at listening to and observing the language first and learning
through that, rather than starting with plain grammar points from a textbook
have a fair degree of intuition
like to observe a phenomenon
feel
somewhat comfortable with ambiguity
for a while, until things become clear
are someone who can feel comfortable being corrected when
they realize they were wrong, rather than getting confused and frustrated
because they went down an initial path that turned out not to be correct (so
you actually learn from being corrected and you don’t get confused by it)
have a desire to have
things explained to you beforehand in a nice and clear way
have a logical and analytical mind (which is usually the product of education in
general)
have a need for a systematic approach (basically if you’re
most comfortable with a book which is going to introduce the grammar according
to an agreed set of methods or an organized plan)
the most important part are the patterns of a language
no matter what type of language learner you are, I think it’s really clever to incorporate this method into you learning.
a language is actually made up of patterns which constantly repeat themselves and that is THE KEY TO FLUENCY
repeating the patterns over and over again, until they become natural, until you no longer have to conjugate the verbs in your head before speaking
when you become really good with patterns, your sentences will come out naturally, and patterns are what will get you to fluency
I’ve provided the links, where you will find a review of the books, so that you can have an idea of what they look like. You can find most of these on amazon.
There is also an amazing blog on here, which provides free books, and I think that you can find half of these series for free there. @lovelybluepanda
1. Show up to class a little early. It’ll give you time to set up, read over some old notes, put your water bottle/thermos on your desk, fill out your planner if you couldn’t in the previous period(s), check your planner to see if you have something on that day etc.
2. Sit in the front or second row. I’m serious, you will definitely benefit. Write detailed class notes. Pick whatever system works for you. I usually write my titles in red pen, notes in black pen, underline points that are repeated/emphasised, highlight keywords at home
3. If you have time at school, do as much homework as you can. If you know you have commitments that day, please for the love of your education do your homework at lunch. I know you might feel awkward, but your friends will understand.
4. When you get home, first list down all the homework received that day on a q card (cross off as you go). Then write the same tasks in your bullet journal, but as a daily spread. Use stayfocusd or self control for mac + leave phone in a different room. FINISH ALL OF YOUR HOMEWORK. If for some reason you couldn’t complete a homework task, write it on a sticky note and place it on your wall. After homework is done, write your revision notes (flashcard the info as well). Place the notes in your accordion folder/binder. If you have some loose sheets at any point, place them in a ‘To Be Filed’ box. Sort that out when you’re packing your bag for the next day.
5. Go through the flashcards made that day and the flashcards made on the previous days.
List out all assignments/assessments on another q card with their due dates. This will come in handy later.
6. Pack your bag the night before. Remember your accordion folder + make sure your ‘To Be Filed’ box is empty. Put water bottle in the fridge and make meals for the next day.
7. The next day, wake up early, complete any unfinished homework, go through flashcards again, read through revision notes, make lunch for the day, put laptop in bag, put food + water in bag, exercise (esp if you have commitments after school), shower, change, blah blah blah. Only do this if your schedule is packed, and in my case, this is a must.
II Weekends
1. On Friday nights, first off, do homework. You will thank yourself for it. Whip out that list of assessments/assignments and allocate half days to knock off at least two of these little assholes. Work ahead, you will feel much better.
2. Do your readings. For English, knock off some wider reading novels, for HSIE, knock off some textbook unit readings (two units ahead), for science, knock off some more textbook readings. Write summaries of each page. Type these summaries. Print these summaries. Place in accordion folder/binder. Flashcard the info. Spend like half a day doing this lmao.
3. Spend 1-2 hours going through the flashcards you made that week for each subject. This counts as studying my friend.
III Weekends When You Actually Have Assessments
1. Due to your working ahead, homework completion and readings, you shouldn’t be panicking too much. Get those revision notes and slot in the textbook readings notes. Highlight, annotate, read aloud, go through flashcards and get someone to test you on the content. Make sure you know all terms, formulae, key concepts, vocabulary etc etc
2. As for assignments, again due to your working ahead just print them out and heavily edit those little asshats. Then type the edits into the doc. Repeat this process four times. Then get someone to read it. Make sure all your assignments are on your USB + email them to yourself because you never fucking know tbh.
3. You’ll probs have to sacrifice your reading time but that’s chill because the teacher/prof will probably be focusing on prepping you for the actual assessment + you gotta do what you gotta do.
SUMMARY
Seriously, just do your homework the day you receive it, write revision notes, do your readings, write notes on those readings, make flashcards, knock out assignments as soon as you know they actually exist, read every wider reading novel (analyse these novels), read your required readings (analyse this too), go over flashcards every morning/afternoon, make use of spare time in class, do homework at lunch if needed, stick to your schedule, buy coffee/hot chocolate in the mornings and put it in a thermos, keep a necessities pouch in your bag, keep your P.E shoes in your locker, use a planner, track your spending, wash your hair, brush your hair, go to commitments, attend school events, attend events you’re invited to, go shopping, watch movies, be kind to yourself, take bubble baths, light candles, listen to music, SLEEP, get that A and most importantly be proud of yourself.
